Marquez Valdes-Scantling is out for revenge and ready to light up the field in Week 1 After Being Released By Seahawks

It appears as if Marquez Valdes-Scantling will get his chance to prove the Seattle Seahawks made a mistake in releasing him sooner than may have been expected. The veteran receiver has reportedly agreed to terms with the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle’s opening day opponent, a couple of weeks down the road.

John Schneider made Valdes-Scantling one of his major free agent signings back in March. In actuality, the one-year, up to $4 million deal was rather modest, but apart from a few big signings, Schneider did not hit the free agent market very hard this offseason. He seemed to favor stockpiling draft picks.

MVS was probably cut as a direct result of one of those picks. The performance of rookie Tory Horton in training camp appears to have convinced the Hawks that MVS was expendable before he ever played a meaningful snap for Seattle.

Why did San Francisco sign former Seahawks receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling?

He was supposed to help replace the departed DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in Seattle, but now MVS will help fill the void left by Deebo Samuel’s departure in San Fran. As of Tuesday, the 49ers only had five wide receivers on their active roster.

Combined, Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Skyy Moore, Jacob Cowing, and rookie Jordan Watkins have played in just 122 NFL games and caught 233 passes. The lion’s share of those stats comes from Jennings.

On his own, MVS has almost equaled the games and catches. Clearly, San Francisco has questions about their receiver room. Brandon Aiyuk, who would be seen as the 49ers' WR1, will begin the season on the PUP list and is expected to miss several weeks at a minimum.

Jennings and Pearsall both played very well for San Francisco last season, but they need to show that they can sustain their production long-term. Samuel and Aiyuk formed a dangerous pair of targets for Brock Purdy, and Kyle Shanahan still has elite weapons in George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey on his offense.

But without explosive plays from the outside, defenses will find it much easier to gang up on the Niners’ established stars.

MVS can still make explosive plays, as proven by his 22.6 yards-per-catch and four touchdowns in just 17 receptions last year in New Orleans. Still, Mike Macdonald and Klint Kubiak did not deem that good enough for a roster spot in Seattle.

We will find out very soon if they made the right call. And then, depending on how things play out this season, we all may get an even more dramatic answer to the question in week 18, when Seattle travels to the Bay for a final showdown with San Fran.

Both teams could be out of the playoff race, but just imagine if they are not, and late in the fourth quarter, Purdy lofts a deep ball to MVS, speeding downfield, blanketed by Riq Woolen. Could be a poetic way for the season to end, don’t you think?

For my money, I think MVS gets a step on Riq, Purdy hits him in stride, and Nick Emmanwori delivers a jarring hit that results in an incompletion … and a Seahawks’ win. But I suppose we should get through week one first.